At my July Food Bloggers Los Angeles meeting, I not only got to see all my food blogger friends and eat some crazy good fresh fruit dishes, but we had a surprise visit from Karla Stockli from the California Fig Advisory Board. She talked about figs and answered all our questions, plus she brought beauitful fresh and dried figs for us to take home. I could hardly wait to go cook something delicious with them!

The box with the dried Golden and Mission Figs also contained a calendar with recipes and photos for each month. I was enthralled with this one for Halibut with Fig & Ginger Sauce. The cover of the calendar is the inspiration for a wonderful appetizer with frico, salami, arugula, fresh fig with, I’m guessing, a balsamic sauce. We have to get our inspiration where we can find it, right?

The sauce for the halibut was made with dried golden figs and Fresno chiles, plus fresh ginger, garlic, sesame oil, lime juice and cream. Is your mouth watering yet? The fresh figs we got were the Calimyrna and you can see in my photos how beautiful they are on the plate, with the light yellow-green skin and the pinky-wine color on the inside. I also grilled a few of the Calimyrna for another dish and they were amazing.

Here are some Fun Fig Facts:

Figs were actually the fruit in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, not apples.

The early Olympic athletes used figs as training food. Figs were also presented as laurels to the winners, becoming the first Olympic “medal.”

Figs were regarded with such esteem that laws were created forbidding the export of the best quality figs.

The fig tree is a symbol of abundance, fertility and sweetness. They were respected in ancient Rome and thought of as a sacred fruit.

Figs made their first commercial product appearance with the 1892 introduction of Fig Newton Cookies.

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1. In 2-quart saucepan, combine figs, garlic, onion, chiles, fresh gingerroot and clam juice. Heat to simmer, and cook about 20 minutes until figs are softened. Set aside to cool. Turn into blender container and process until smooth, about 30 seconds. Return to saucepan and set aside.

Make Halibut and Shrimp

1. In large heavy skillet, heat olive oil until hot. Gently sauté halibut on both sides until golden brown. Reduce heat and continue to cook until just cooked through.

2. In 2-quart saucepan, combine shrimp with water and salt. Heat to a boil and drain immediately. Turn into warm skillet with halibut and keep warm until ready to serve.

California is one of the fruit capitals of the world, and who better to celebrate its bounty than our Los Angeles Food Bloggers. Whether coming from a local farmers market or from their backyard, our group brought fabulous summer fruit dishes to our July meeting. Salads, chicken, quesadillas, appetizers, sangria and desserts, all with the fruits of the summer season.

Above is a wonderful Nectarine, Hazelnut and Arugula Salad from Adair at Lentil Breakdown. By the way, she just returned from Morocco and has new posts about the markets and food there. Really interesting. Check them out.

Christina from MDR Photography brought a Citrus Sangria that made everyone very happy. *wink*

It was the dark of night and there I was in the kitchen making cheesecake bars to take to my July Food Bloggers Los Angeles meeting the next morning. Sometimes time doesn’t work in your favor. You get busy. You have lots of commitments. But I wanted to go to the FBLA meeting on Saturday morning with a yummy dish to share, so there I was at the last minute. Whew! Yes, it got done, but in the nick of time. It was still warm when I put it in the fridge for its overnight chill and I knew there would be condensation on the underside of the plastic wrap I’d covered it with. Just have to hope for the best. But it all worked out. Oh, it was soooo good.

Damn, but I love lemon curd. In this case, it is dolloped over the cheesecake batter and swirled into it with a butter knife.

I got a little carried away. The lemon curd was supposed to have about half of it still showing on the surface. Next time I’ll remember to do it the right way. I have to remember to just slow down and take a deep breath.

Here you can see the Lemon Swirl Cheesecake Bars glowing like the rays of the sun in the middle of the table, which is filled to the brim with delicious dishes. FBLA members do not mess around. The theme of this meeting was Summer Fruit, so the dishes were filled with peaches, plums, strawberries, nectarines and apricots. And you’re thinking to yourself… and Lynne brought one with lemons. Well, lemons are a summer fruit, aren’t they? So what if they’re also a spring, fall and winter fruit. Ok, ok, it was a big rationalization. *chuckle*

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1. Make the crust: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F and position rack in center. Butter a 9-inch square nonstick baking pan.

2. In a food processor, pulse flour with sugar, lemon zest and salt. Add butter and pulse until a soft, crumbly dough forms.

3. Press dough evenly over bottom and a scant ½-inch up the side of baking pan. Bake crust for 20-30 minutes, or until golden and firm.

4. Make the lemon curd: In a small bowl, dissolve cornstarch in water. In a medium saucepan, whisk egg yolks with ¾ cup sugar and lemon juice. Whisk in cornstarch mixture and cook over moderate heat, whisking gently, until sugar is dissolved and lemon mixture is hot, about 4 minutes.

I love going to cooking classes, especially when they are participation and the students do the cooking. So when my friend and fellow food blogger Patricia Rose, of the blog Fresh Food in a Flash, invited me to her cooking class, I was really happy to go along and photograph the whole thing. Her Weekday Dinners Cooking Class was St. Patrick’s Day themed and there was green everywhere. Balloons. Aprons. Plates and napkins. Maps of Ireland. As you can see in the photo of the Bailey’s Irish Cream Trifle above, that included little green shamrock flags.

The trifles were generously doused with Bailey’s and here you can see Patricia demonstrating how to pipe the whipped cream. The recipe for the Bailey’s Irish Cream Trifle is included below.

Here is Patricia at the beginning of the class going over each recipe so the students would know the ins and outs of each before getting industriously to work. Patricia is not only the chef instructor, but also a food blogger with a camera, documenting the dishes as the class moved along.

We started off with an hors d’oeuvre of a selection of wonderful Kerrygold Dubliner Cheddar cheeses and some Irish Soda Bread that Patricia had made. The bread was a perfect foil for the delicious cheese and had a really nice texture. By the time dinner was served, the cheese and bread were all gone.

The four entrée dishes were set out buffet style so everyone could help themselves. The Turkey and Rice Chow Mein was so flavorful with Sambal Olek, fresh ginger, garlic, and ground turkey and sliced celery. Here you can see the Junior Chef Trainee with his turn at the wok.

Patricia demonstrated how to grate carrots in the food processor for the Yam & Carrot Latkes. These were served with a Thai Peanut Sauce that was so complementary to the flavors of the yams and carrots.

The Tuscan Chicken with Artichokes and Olives was served over rice and also had a wonderful sauce with garlic, lemon juice, white wine, brine from the olive jar, with added kalamata olives and chopped Italian parsley. The student chef was very proud of his creation.

After everyone had served themselves from the buffet, the communal dining table was ready with St. Patty’s Day decorations. The dish in the bottom photo is Straw and Hay Pasta, with fettuccine, ham, peas and parmesan with a white wine and cream sauce. And of course we finished with the Bailey’s Irish Cream Trifle.

Patricia and Fresh Food in a Flash have two cooking classes coming up. Indian Street Food on Thursday, April 11 and Southwestern Fiesta, Wednesday, May 8. You can find more information on her website about time and place. Thank you, Patricia, for inviting me to your class, feeding me delicious food and letting me photograph every minute. I was in heaven.

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Bailey’s Irish Cream Trifle

4 servings

Inspired by St. Paddy’s Day, this recipe is fun, super easy and delicious. Who doesn’t love a little bailey’s?

1. Whip the cream and fold in 2 tablespoons Bailey’s. When ready to assemble, place whipped cream into a piping bag with a wide tip.

2. Prep chocolate shavings by using wide holes of a box grater. Place chocolate bar into microwave for 10 seconds at a time. Test it on box grater to see if it is soft enough to make the shavings. Microwave for additional time until chocolate is pliable, being careful not to melt it.

3. Cut slices of cake into ½ inch squares. Clean and slice all but 4 strawberries.

4. Set four glasses on table. Start with chocolate shavings on bottom, then 1/3 of cake squares, then pour on enough Bailey’s to wet cake. Add strawberry slices. Pipe in whipped cream. Add more chocolate and repeat process one or two more times ending with whipped cream. Garnish with more chocolate shavings and a strawberry cut through the middle at an angle to slide onto glass rim.

If you are looking for a last minute cookie recipe for your New Year’s celebration, you have come to the right place. Have you ever seen so many cookies in one place in your life? I have to admit, I haven’t and it was amazing to behold. This was the Food Bloggers Los Angeles Holiday Cookie Exchange 2012, with about 30 bloggers contributing upwards of 1500 cookies to enjoy and share.

The meeting was held at Erika’s home, of In Erika’s Kitchen, and the cookies were spread over her very large dining room table. It was a beautiful sight.

You can see additional photographs of the individual platters of cookies, with links to the recipes, taken by Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious. She did a fantastic job on this very large project. Astounding, in fact. Check it out.

These are the cookies I brought ~ Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies Dipped in Chocolate and Honey Roasted Peanuts ~ and the recipe can be found here.

We were asked to bring a savory dish, if we wanted to, as the event was held at lunch time. I brought these Spicy Korean BBQ Turkey Sliders with Ginger Sesame Slaw and the recipe is here. These sliders were a big hit and would be perfect for a New Year’s party.

There were so many cookies that they didn’t all fit on the table, so near-by chairs were drafted for the task. I took home a huge platter of cookies, and my family and friends were thrilled, believe me.

My Food Bloggers Los Angeles group recently held their annual Cookie Exchange and Cookbook Swap at the home of Erika, of In Erika’s Kitchen. We were invited to bring 5 to 6 dozen cookies to share and as many cookbooks as we were willing to part with. One gal said she couldn’t part with any of her own cookbooks, so she went to a book store and bought a new one to share. Lol. Anyway, there were about 30 of us FBLAers and I have never seen so many cookies in one place in my life. A quick calculation tells me about 2000 cookies. Sugar, sugar.

Since we were meeting around lunch time, it was also suggested that we bring a savory dish to share, which is where these Spicy Korean BBQ Sliders come into the picture. I brought the components separately in containers and mixed them together there. I was so happy to be using up some of the massive amount of turkey leftovers I had from Thanksgiving, you have no idea. People were hovering, waiting for me to finish assembling them, so they could have one. One person who couldn’t wait was Erika’s 13 year old son, Emery, who asked if he could have one before I was finished, because he couldn’t wait. So I caved and gave him one. Several minutes later, he threw this arms around my neck and exclaimed, “Lynne, I love you!” Well, can a cook receive a better complement than that?

The ingredient in my sliders that make them so spicy amazing is Gochugaru, Korean Red Pepper Powder. Gochugaru comes in two styles, fine and coarse. The fine powder is used to make gochujang, the Korean red pepper paste which I used in a previous recipe for Korean Chicken Wings. The coarse flakes are used to make kimchi and in many other Korean dishes, such as my Fried Tofu with Spicy Korean Red Pepper Sauce . Gochugaru is found only in Korean cuisine, unlike other ingredients that have versions in the cuisines of many countries around the world.

Two different brands of Gochugaru

You can order Gochugaru on-line at Amazon. If you live in Los Angeles there is probably an Asian or Korean Market near you, or you can drive to Market World in Torrance. And if you are thinking, like me, that Korean food is the next big thing, check out this website Maangchi. Lots of information and recipes. I hope you have fun with this.

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1. Make the BBQ Sauce and Sesame Ginger Dressing. Slice the cabbage, chop cilantro and reserve. The Slaw Dressing, BBQ Sauce, shredded meat and sliced cabbage can be made one day in advance, each in a separate container.

2. Break apart the sweet rolls. If desired, with a bread knife, cut a ½-inch slice from the center of each roll, with the bottom slice about ¾-inch thick. Save slices in ziplock bag to make extra sliders. If you like very bread-y sliders, just cut the rolls in half, with the bottom slice about 1-inch thick.

3. Place the turkey meat in a medium bowl and mix in enough BBQ Sauce to thoroughly coat all the pieces. Taste test and add more sauce if desired. You may have BBQ Sauce left over. Save for another use.

4. Place sliced cabbage and cilantro in a medium bowl and toss with Sesame Ginger Dressing. Do this step right before serving. If done too far ahead, the cabbage gets soggy.

5. Place 2-3 tablespoons BBQ Turkey on bottom of each roll, and cover with slaw and top of roll. A small offset spatula works well to move sliders from work area to serving tray.

Recently I was invited to an early Thanksgiving event and I needed to bring a dish for the buffet. I wanted to make something that could be put together the night before, because I am barely coherent in the morning and I needed to leave my house at 10AM. These Spinach Crepe Spirals are perfect, because I could make the crepes the day before, spread with filling, roll them up, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate over night. The next morning just slice and place on a serving tray, and you’re good to go. Plus you get to eat the trimmed ends while you work. What a deal.

I have been making these appetizers since the 1980s and they were served on the side of an asparagus salad at one of my UCLA Culinary School banquets in 1995. You can read the menu and my post about that banquet here.

I haven’t made these lately, so as I was making the crepes I decided to taste test one just spread with some butter and rolled up. Yum. They have minced spinach and green onions in them, which are so delicious. Then I was thinking that these would be a great way to use Thanksgiving leftovers. Just fill with turkey and dressing, roll up and douse with gravy. Or cold like a sandwich roll-up. It’s a crepe, after all, so the possibilities are endless. Time to get creative.

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1. Thaw spinach over night in fridge, or place unwrapped frozen block in a large bowl of warm water. Stir occasionally until thawed. Pour into a fine mesh sieve and squeeze out as much water as possible. Place on cutting surface and discard obvious large stems. Chop very fine and divide in half. Place one half in batter and reserve second half for another use

2. In a blender, food processor, or large bowl with a whisk, combine eggs, milk, flour, salt and pepper. Mix until well blended. Pour batter into a large bowl, and whisk in the spinach and minced green onions.

4. Cook until light brown spots start to appear. Flip crepe over and cook until the bumps of the spinach are browned. Remove crepe from pan and let cool on paper towel-lined plate. Repeat with the remaining batter and oil to make 12 crepes.

Note: The recipe can be made ahead to this point. Wrap the crepes in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 2 weeks. Let return to room temperature before using.

5. For the filling: in a medium bowl, stir together the cream cheese, basil, vodka, lemon zest, garlic and black pepper.

6. Spread drained sun-dried tomatoes on paper towel-lined plate. Cover with another paper towel and press out as much oil as possible. Chop fine.

8. Lay a crepe on a flat surface, smooth side down and bumpy green side up. Spread with about 3 tablespoons cream cheese filling, 1/4-inch thick. Make sure a thin layer of cream cheese covers entire edge farthest from you. This will act like glue to keep the roll tight.

9. Starting at edge closest to you, roll up crepe tightly, making sure the closing edge is completely sealed. Set aside seam down. Repeat with remaining crepes and filling.

10. Wrap each roll in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour, or overnight. Keep refrigerated until ready to slice.

11. Trim ends of each crepe roll on diagonal. Nosh on trimmings while slicing rolls. Cut on the diagonal into about 5 slices, 3/4-inch wide. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled.

Last Sunday was my Food Bloggers Los Angeles (FBLA) meeting for October, which I was fully planning to attend. And then my life went sideways, you know what I mean, and I couldn’t make it. I made these Cinnamon-Sugared Pumpkin Donut Holes and they were ready to go. Everyone was bringing a dish with pumpkin and I was really looking forward to it. Oh well.

You can see a really nice write-up about this meeting on Shockingly Delicious (Thanks Dorothy!) and there are links at the bottom of her post with many pumpkin recipes from our FBLA members. I hope you enjoy them.

These little morsels are actually mini-muffins, but after being rolled in melted butter and the cinnamon-sugar mixture, they really are like donut holes. The muffins are flavored with the wonderful pumpkin pie spices, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves and when you bite into them you are transported to a little bit of pumpkin pie heaven.

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Last Saturday was the third Trufflepalooza I have attended, created and produced by Erika Kerekes of In Erika’s Kitchen. This year we were treated to 20 amazing truffle-infused dishes, each more delicious than the last, made with grated fresh truffles, truffle butter, truffle salt, truffle honey, truffle vinegar, truffle oil or a combination. Erika calls it “an ambitious affair, a loud, cheerful, sweaty tribute to my favorite fungus, the Italian Black Summer Truffle.” Much of the preparation is done ahead of time by Ericka, and on the day, a flock of L.A. food bloggers descend on the kitchen to help prep, cook, assemble and serve the truffle delights.

The photo above is Caciotta Truffle Cheese Chips, which were waiting on a big platter upon our arrival. Below is the Trufflepalooza 2012 Menu and photos of many of the dishes which followed, to the delight of the 150 party attendees. Including me!

Some of the dishes on the menu are wonderful repeats from last year and you will find them on Tuffflepalooza 2011. Thank you Erika for this wonderful event and all of your hard work and creativity. Bravo!

Last Saturday the Food Bloggers Los Angeles group got together for a Holiday Cookie and Cookbook Exchange. It was so much fun to see everyone and see what kind of cookies they brought. Everyone also brought one or more cookbooks to exchange. Erika, of In Erika’s Kitchen, whose house we were meeting at, contributed about 40 books. I brought one and came home with four. What a good deal. We also brought lunch dishes which we noshed on while we caught up on all the news. And then the fun part, we divided up all the cookies to take home. Links to the available recipes are at the end of this post.

Last Saturday I attended the third annual Trufflepalooza, a totally truffle-infused party given by Erika of In Erika’s Kitchen. About 75 people were served 16 dishes which had some form of truffle goodness in each recipe, such as grated fresh truffles, truffle butter, truffle salt, truffle honey, truffle oil or a combination. Erika must be Super Woman, because she prepared all of the dishes by herself, with just a little help on the day of the bash.

Last year I helped in the kitchen on the day, and by the time the party started I was too worn out to take any photos. So this year I gave up the fun of helping in the kitchen, and decided to chronicle all the wonderful and beautiful dishes so you could see them. The photo above is of Truffled Shrimp and Pork Shu Mai, and the names of the dishes in the following gallery can be found by placing your cursor in the middle of the photo. Links to several of the recipes found on Erika’s website are at the end of this post. I hope you enjoy looking at these photos as much as I enjoyed shooting them.

If you’ve made it this far, I salute you. Imagine having tasted all those wonderful dishes and how truffle-infused you yourself would feel. It was fantastic!

Last Saturday the FBLA (Food Bloggers Los Angeles) group got together to discuss the relationship between bloggers and PR people. And as we are all foodies, we all brought dishes for the buffet table to share. You can see in the photo above some of these marvelous creations.

I was so busy photographing everyone elses plates that I forgot to shoot my own Spanakopita, which were crunchy filo triangles filled with spinach and feta cheese. So my wonderful friend and fellow blogger, Adair of Lentil Breakdown, gave me one of her terrific photos to use. On the right are Bourekakia, filo filled with lamb and eggplant. The recipe for the Spanakopita is below.

After we had noshed to our satisfaction, we moved to the living room where Patti Londre gave us a great presentation on PR companies and how food bloggers can have the best relationship with them. She really knows her stuff!

We also had a drawing for two books written by the world famous premier food stylist Denise Vivaldo, who also attended our meeting. Her most recent, The Food Stylist’s Handbook, is a stunning volume full of useful information. I didn’t win. Darn. Now I have to buy it.

The wonderful and talented food bloggers who attended this meeting were:

1. If you are using fresh spinach, wash leaves and dry thoroughly, then chop into small pieces. If you are using frozen chopped spinach, drain thoroughly and squeeze our excess moisture with hands, then in paper towels.

2. In a large pot, heat the olive oil. Add the green onions and sauté until soft. Add the spinach and cook for a few minutes, stirring and breaking up clumps. If fresh spinach was used, drain completely in colander and set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, crumble the feta cheese with your fingers or a fork. Mix in the parsley, garlic, dill weed and pepper. Add the spinach and mix thoroughly. Transfer from pot to medium bowl.

5. Cut filo into 3 ½-inch wide strips lengthwise. Discard any excess. Place stacked up strips on a flat surface (I used a big cutting board), cover with plastic wrap and over that, a damp kitchen towel. Don’t let the towel touch the filo or it will get soggy.

6. On an adjacent flat surface (I used another large cutting board), place 2 strips from the stack and lay them out one on top of the other. Lightly brush the top strip with butter. Place about 1 ½ tablespoon of filling at the bottom of the strip. Fold the lower right hand corner of the filo to the left edge, forming a triangle over the filling. Continue folding from left to right until you reach the midway point. Brush the pastry again with a little butter and continue folding to the end. Brush the entire outside of the triangle with more butter and place seam side down on the plastic wrap.

7. When the sheet is covered with triangles, place another sheet of plastic wrap over them, and put more triangles on top. Triangles may be held in the refrigerator for up to two hours before baking. Or freeze on sheet pan, then freeze in plastic container.

Last Saturday the FBLA (Food Bloggers Los Angeles) group got together to eat, talk and discuss. It is so much fun to be with this group and just talk about food blogging, and nobody thinks you’re boring or crazy. Everyone brought food for the buffet, and it was a delicious spread. I brought the Spinach and Feta Quiche with Kalamata Olive Tapenade and here is a mosaic of the dishes everyone brought.

After stuffing ourselves on our magnificent food, Patti Londre of Worth the Whisk led a discussion on the relationship between food bloggers and PR reps – the ethics, how to get ads, how to get sponsorship, etc. We talked about what you can and can’t do if you have a personal sponsorship when you attend a conference or event. Also what you can offer your personal sponsor. We also talked about ways to promote our blogs, such as sending out newsletters.

The smart and talented bloggers who attended this very interesting and informative meeting were:

We will be having a meeting in August, so if you are a food blogger who lives in Los Angeles and would like to attend, let me know. I’ll get the information to you.

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Spinach & Feta Quiche with Kalamata Olive Tapenade

Note: If you are serving this as an entrée, the tart slices can be set on a bed of Tomato or Marinara Sauce of your choice. This makes a beautiful presentation and adds another dimension to the wonderful flavors.

1. To make the pastry, in a bowl, stir together the flour and salt. Add the butter and, using a pastry blender, cut it in until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

2. In a small bowl, using a fork, beat the egg with 2 tablespoons of the ice water. Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the egg mixture and 2 more tablespoons ice water. Using the fork, mix lightly, adding more ice water as needed until the mixture holds together. Pat into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

3. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

4. On a floured work surface, roll out the pastry into a round about 3/8-inches thick. Transfer to an 11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, fitting snugly into sides and bottom. Run rolling pin over top edge of tart pan and remove excess dough. There will be enough excess for another small tart. Cover the outside of the tart pan with aluminum foil, to prevent leaking in your oven. Prick the bottom in several places with a fork. Press a piece of aluminum foil, shiny side down, onto the crust, and freeze for about 30 minutes.

5. Bake the foil-lined pastry shell for 8 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the crust looks dull, about 5 minutes longer. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with the Swiss cheese.

6. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F.

7. Meanwhile, make the filling: Drain the spinach and squeeze dry in paper towels. Remove any large stems and thoroughly chop the spinach. In a large sauté pan over medium heat, melt the butter with the oil. Add the yellow and green onions and garlic, and sauté until soft, about 4 minutes.

8. Add the spinach and sauté, stirring and breaking up any clumps, until completely wilted, about 3 minutes. Add the dill and pepper and continue sautéing for about 2 minutes longer. Taste and adjust the seasonings: the mixture should taste peppery. Let cool for 5-6 minutes.

9. In a bowl, whisk the eggs until blended, then whisk in the half-and-half and cream. Crumble the feta cheese into the spinach and stir in the cream mixture. Pour into the prebaked shell. It will look like there is too much filling, but it really fits perfectly. Move the solids towards the tart rim.

10. Bake until the filling is puffed and light brown and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, 35-40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand for 5-10 minutes.

11. Cut into serving-size pieces and spread each with Kalamata Olive Tapenade. Serve. Pass extra tapenade in a small bowl.

Last Saturday I went to a meeting and potluck with the FBLA (that’s Food Bloggers Los Angeles). We get together about once a month to, guess what, talk about our food blogs, share what we know about blogging and EAT. The Chicken and Potato Crisp Salad with Watercress, which I love, is what I brought to this meeting. Some of the dishes other people brought were apricot clafouti, black bean dip with salted potatoes, cranberry walnut scones, potato and cheese frittata, coffee cake and gougeres. These are food people, so you know everything was wildly delicious.

One of the subjects we always seem to talk a lot about is SEO and how to drive more people to our websites. We were lucky to have a master of these subjects visiting us this month. None other than Greg of SippitySup. Thanks Greg for your insights. It was nice to see people in person that I only read online and be able to actually have a conversation. All of the people who came to the meeting have amazing websites with great photos, interesting writing and good recipes. If you have a chance, check out these food blogs:

Greg at SipptySup. Right now he is blogging about Filipino Chicken, wondering if you can say Adobo.

Erika at In Erika’s Kitchen is in the process of cooking every recipe on the planet that has table grapes in it. Also, her 11 year old son, a budding chef and blogger, gave my salad a big thumbs up.

Adair at Lentil Breakdown is pondering the Six Freezing Degrees of Al and Tipper’s Separation through Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavors. We were trying to figure how to get this article on the Huffington Post, its that clever and hilarious.

Michael at South Bay Foodies is currently writing about Shakespeare by the Sea in San Pedro and the Wine Maker Socials at Café Pierre in Manhattan Beach.

Gisele at Small Pleasures Catering, who is originally from New Orleans, has an interview with Poppy Tucker, a New Orleans TV and radio personality and fishing camp owner. Gisele is going to be doing a fund raiser for New Orleans.

This meeting was really interesting and informative, besides the part where we laughed and ate a lot. I for one am really looking forward to the meeting next month, and each following month. Thanks again you guys and I’ll see you soon.

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2. Slice the potatoes 1/8 inch thick. (You can use a mandoline). Place in a bowl, add 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and toss until coated. Season with ½ teaspoon each of the salt and pepper.

3. Cover 3 baking sheets with aluminum foil and spray with vegetable spray. Arrange the potato slices in a single layer on the baking sheets and roast in the oven, 2 sheets at a time, for 10 minutes. Turn and switch the sheets and bake for 5 to 7 minutes longer, until browned around the edges and crisp. Loosen the potatoes from the sheets as soon as they are done and transfer to paper towels to cool. Repeat with the remaining potatoes.

4. Meanwhile, in a large casserole, heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over moderate heat. Add the onions and ½ teaspoon of the salt. Cover tightly and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 10 minutes. Uncover, increase the heat to moderately high and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are well browned, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes longer.

5. In a bowl, combine the grainy and Dijon mustards with the lemon juice, parsley, rosemary and the remaining 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Whisk in the remaining 1/3 cup olive oil. Set aside ¼ cup of this dressing.

6. Add the mustard-lemon dressing (less the ¼ cup) to the onions and stir well to blend, scraping up any browned bits adhering to the bottom of the casserole. Scrape the onion into a bowl. Add the chicken and potato crisps and toss well. Add additional olive oil by tablespoons if needed.

7. In a bowl, toss the watercress with the reserved ¼ cup dressing. Fold the watercress into the salad and serve.

Note: I prepare the chicken tenders by first sprinkling them with salt, pepper and rubbed dry basil on both sides. Then sauté in butter and minced garlic. Discard the browned minced garlic and scrape it off the cooked chicken. Or you can use any cooked white chicken meat.